Monthly Sale Flyer · September 2026 · New deals on hair, wigs, lashes and beauty every month · See the flyer

Pomade, Grease and Men's Styling Products

The most useful distinction on the shelf is water-based against oil-based, and it decides more about your experience than the brand does. It determines how the product washes out, how it behaves when you sweat, and whether it builds up on your scalp over weeks.

Water-based

Washes out with water and ordinary shampoo, reactivates when you add water so you can restyle without reapplying, and does not clog the scalp the way heavy grease can. It gives less shine and can lose hold if you sweat heavily. For most people, most of the time, this is the sensible default, and it is what to choose if you are training waves and washing regularly.

Oil-based

Traditional pomade and grease, petroleum or wax based. Strong hold, high shine, holds through sweat and humidity, and it does not wash out with water alone. Removing it needs a clarifying shampoo or a degreasing wash, sometimes more than once. Left in, it builds up on the scalp and mixes with dead skin into flaking. It has a real place, particularly for slick styles and for hair that resists holding a shape, but it needs to be washed out properly rather than layered.

Matching hold and shine to the style

A slick, defined style needs high hold and usually high shine, which is where oil-based products earn their keep. A natural, textured look needs low to medium hold and low shine, which is what a matte clay or a light water-based pomade gives. A wave regimen needs very light weight and no stiffness, since the product is there to help hair lie down under a brush rather than to hold a shape on its own.

How much to use

Less than the tub suggests. Warm a small amount between your palms until it goes clear or thin, then work it through from the back forward, and add more only if it is not reaching. Product applied in a lump at the front is what makes hair look greasy at the hairline and dry at the back.

Your scalp

Whatever you use sits on your scalp for as long as you leave it there. Build-up under a durag or a hat, in warm weather, is how people end up with flaking and itching they mistake for dandruff. Wash regularly with the right shampoo for what you are using, and clarify monthly if you use oil-based products. A scalp that itches under product almost always needs washing rather than oiling.